In Your Arms
by Jammed Radio
Summary: -A 30 hugs challenge- Hugs brought warmth and comfort, a moment of solace. Thirty occasions in which Derek and Angie share a hug.
1. hazel eyes

A 30 hugs challenge! Just thought I'd fill up the time doing this (must finish 30 prompts before July 7th)... before leaving to actually go do some vacationing!  
Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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1. hazel eyes

Often times it would take a few days of separation for Angie to receive one of Derek's warm, infamous hugs. During his absence, she had bragged to Leslie her boyfriend gave the best hugs known to man, and even offered for the young woman to experience it for herself. Of course, like her boyfriend, Leslie Sears refused to back down from a challenge. When Derek arrived home on the train from Orange County, he would receive several hugs. Of be forced to give them. Angie was prepared to do whatever it took to prove that she was an honest woman.

"Hey, Derek!" Leslie shouted. Angie purposefully went back to the car to grab something while Leslie would meet up with Derek alone. "How are you?"

The world renowned surgeon wore a puzzled expression. "Hey, Leslie. I'm great." He began to realize that Leslie was coming in for a hug, he smiled kindly and wrapped his arms around her. "It's wonderful to see you."

As much as she believed Tyler gave great hugs, Angie was right. Leslie was positive that if she were Angie, his arms would be wrapped even tighter, but as a friend, his hold was perfect. His body emanated a comforting warmth and when he let go, she found herself a little envious of Angie.

"Derek!"

Derek Stiles looked above his companion's head and saw his blonde girlfriend running towards him, a grin on her face. Derek returned the sentiments, walking forward quickly to meet her and wrap her tightly in his arms. It was her hugs that he longed for the past few days while tending to his mother in the hospital. Somehow, the gentle feeling that surrounded him when her arms wrapped around his waist always put him at ease.

The next day Leslie admitted defeat. Derek was the better hugger, absolute perfection from the way he wrapped his arms to the length of the hug itself.

"He isn't perfect," Angie murmured, taking a sip of her coffee. Leslie spun around, shocked. "At least for me. He's much taller than me, I can never meet his eyes. And they're such a beautiful hazel."

Leslie shrugged. To each her own, she supposed.


	2. fairytales

Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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8. fairytales

Fairy tales were something Angie Stiles never believed in.

She could remember her five-year-old self listening to her father's baritone voice as he reiterated stories of paupers that became princesses or damsels being saved by a heroic knight. Her green eyes sparkled after every story when Kenneth Blackwell said the tradition lines of _and they lived happily ever after_.

But her mother didn't get her happy ending.

The day after her father disappeared, her mother was served with divorce papers that were waiting to be completed with her signature. On her parents' twelfth anniversary, two years after her father's abandonment, she submitted the paperwork and a few months later became a divorcee.

Fairy tales left a bitter taste in her mouth.

So when their daughter was born, sweet, little Alyson Stiles, her husband had taken on the duty of reading happy ending fairy tales without question. It was after one night of Cinderella, when they retired to their room after a hard day at work, that he finally inquired why she absolutely despised fairy tales.

His question was only answered with silence, something he had already expected. Getting up from his position on the bed, he wrapped his arms around her petite body from behind as she was taking off the earrings that he had given her for their anniversary. "Here, I'll make you a little wager, Mrs. Stiles." He had loosened his arms to allow her to turn around and face him. Her expression was skeptical, but interested. "I bet, after tonight, you'll realize fairy tales aren't so bad _and_ you'll want to read one to Aly tomorrow night."

"Oh, really?"

Derek nodded certainly. He took her hand and sat her down on the bed while he pulled up the chair from the vanity in front of her. He dramatically cleared his throat; Angie rolled her eyes, her eyes shining with a tinge of amusement.

"Once upon a time, there was a very unreliable prince. He was clumsy and had many misconceptions about what he was supposed to be doing. To correct these faults, the king decided to assign him a knight to teach him and watch over him. However, this knight wasn't just any knight, she was a beautiful, talented, strong woman. In addition, she was very strict with the prince, and after a narrow escape of a rebellion, the prince understood what he was supposed to do. He slowly began to fix his faults, and his father sent him on a journey to another kingdom to help more people.

"He was worried about going alone, but when he stepped inside the carriage, his faithful knight was there waiting for him. After many trials, he slowly began to fall in love with his knight that was always by his side. Then, with the help of his friend, a blonde prince from a neighboring kingdom and his fiancée, the prince mustered up the courage to ask the knight if she would continue to be with him, as something more. The knight agreed and several years later, she became the princess, and later the queen of their kingdom. The prince and the knight lived a happy life, which got even better when they were blessed with two children. And with those two children, they lived happily ever after."

Derek met her eyes hesitantly. Angie had a smile on her face the entire time he wove his tale, and knew he had succeeded.

"I like that story." she said softly.

Derek placed a kiss on her forehead as he hobbled into the bed next to his beautiful wife. "Tomorrow, let's tell Aly that fairytale. I think she'll like it." She nodded once, before kissing him goodnight and falling fast asleep, her dreams running rampant of a brown-haired prince with his faithful blonde knight at his side.


	3. sweet dreams

Something short and sweet, and hopefully gives you sweet dreams too!

Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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15. sweet dreams

Many people believed that drinking warm milk before bed would bring sweet dreams. Or on a winter day, it would be hot cocoa. However, Angie would have to object that neither of those things brought her nice dreams. Before transferring to Hope Hospital, she had tried those methods in order to soothe her worries before bed. It was several years later, after her transfer to Hope Hospital, that she discovered the one, foolproof way to have sweet dreams.

"Good night, Ang. Sweet dreams." Derek Stiles murmured as he embraced the young woman on her doorstep after their date. "See you tomorrow."

Yes, she was sure to have good dreams tonight.


	4. broken dreams

Very, very angsty. You have been warned!

Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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20. broken dreams

The news was brutal and cruel. He had asked the best doctors he knew, Dr. Hoffman, Dr. Kasal, even Victor, if there was any way, but he had only faced disappointment.

His hands shook as he collapsed onto the hospital bed, his shoulders shaking. It felt like the entire world was collapsing in on him. Savior of the human race, conqueror of all manufactured diseases and epidemics, Derek Stiles, could not see anymore. Those criminals had finally bested him by taking away the organ he needed the most. Even if he had lost the use of his hands, he could have at least talked someone else through a surgery. But his eyes?

He couldn't even cry anymore!

"Derek! Don't you dare!" he heard from the side.

Warm arms wrapped around him, forcing the shard of glass in his hand to crash onto the floor. He could recognize this warmth. Angie. Even without tears falling, he was crying. He could feel her grip on him become tighter as if letting go of him would cause the world to end. For him, it already had. Derek finally returned the hug, grasping onto Angie as tightly as possible. Angie would be his one bit of the world that wouldn't collapse on him.

He would survive.

Even if his dreams didn't.

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A/N: The next one will be much more lighthearted piece, so please read on to lift your spirits! Please review!


	5. dust

Please enjoy!  
Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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28. dust

"Wyatt! Don't touch that!" Angie Stiles scolded, as she dropped her feather duster onto the floor and ran to grab her three-year-old son.

She had wondered where her little boy got his mischievous streak. From what she heard about Derek's childhood, her husband grew up as a very cautious child. As she hoisted her son in the air, she had to admit it was probably from her that he was so adventurous. When she was a girl, in Germany, she had a habit of disappearing in a tree or two in the park or climbing on things that otherwise should not have been climbed. However, she sobered up when her father left. It was only when he was around—after all, he was the lenient one—that she would perform her disappearing acts.

"No more, okay?" she told the boy in her arms. Wyatt seemed oblivious as he buried his head into Angie's chest, unaware of what his mother was saying. "What am I going to do with you?" she sighed as she carried her son off for a nap. I guess spring-cleaning will have to wait, she thought to herself.

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A/N: The next one will be another angsty fic, and like "broken dreams" will feature one of the characters being blind. Consider them a joint fic.


	6. teddy bear

A sort of joint fic to "broken dreams". Please expect some angst.  
Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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4. teddy bear

Derek knocked hesitantly on the door. Were throats supposed to feel this dry? He attempted to swallow his fear to no avail.

A nurse who was passing by tapped him on the shoulders, "Go ahead on in." She had taken notice of the flowers in his hand and teddy bear in the other arm. The woman flashed him an encouraging smile, and with a clear voice announced, "You have a visitor, Ms. Thompson. He's coming in now."

The door slid open and closed behind him. His normally bright nurse looked listless as she sat on a hospital bed, dressed in bland pajamas.

"Angie? How are you feeling?" he asked gently. He set down his gifts on a nearby table and went to stand next to her.

"Derek?" she said uncertainly.

Derek took her small hands into his, and squeezed them reassuringly. "Yeah, it's me." They sat like this for a moment, before Derek remembered the flowers and teddy bear. "I brought you something." Clumsily, he handed her the stuffed bear and bouquet of flowers.

"The flowers smell nice. Do you mind…?" Her voice was unsure, but Derek got the hint. He took the flowers out of her hand and placed it in an empty vase, and filled it with some water.

While he was doing this, Angie hugged the teddy bear close to her chest. It felt soft and smelled like Derek. Even in a world of darkness, his presence would be her one small light.


	7. be an angel

Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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21. be an angel

Halloween was never a big deal to Derek. However, ever since their first-born turned the ripe age of five, he knew that it was time to get into the spirit. The Kasal family chose to host a Halloween party that would immediately follow after the children's trick-or-treating.

"Nice to see you in the spirit, Derek!" Greg Kasal said, slapping the younger man on the back.

All the men were designated the decorators of the evening, while their wives went to take the children trick-or-treating. Greg and Sidney were in charge of banners, since they seemed to have an uncanny sense of when the banner was straight on both sides. Tyler was decorating outside, while Derek was in charge of blowing up balloons.

"So, have you seen your wives' costumes?" Tyler finally asked when he came back into the room. All the men left too early in order to buy decorations, and Leslie picked everyone up. "Leslie's dressed like someone from the 70s."

"Nope. Angie refused to tell me. She said Leslie chose it since she was too busy cooking for tonight." Derek replied.

"I've seen Cybil's. Very… appropriate." Greg could remember his wife playfully pulling out a toy gun on him, dressed in a police officer's uniform she borrowed from a friend.

"I think Naomi chose to be a gypsy." Sidney Kasal answered.

The blonde nodded approvingly before surveying the house. "Oh, well, the house looks good!" Tyler announced. "Time to get into our costumes."

As per twins, Greg and Sidney chose to dress up as twin vampires. Tyler was a ninja. Derek put on an eye patch and declared himself finished. He stared back at his reflection and saw the stereotypical pirate get up. When all the men heard the garage door open, they rushed downstairs, grabbing party poppers set on a table.

"Happy Halloween!" they shouted, pulling the strings so confetti would fly out.

The girls burst out laughing, wondering if it was anyone's birthday while the children reveled in the colorful pieces of paper. Even husband gave their respective wife a kiss on the cheek while inspecting their child's pile of candy. Derek hugged his wife, who was suitably dressed like an angel in a white dress and fluffy halo hanging by a wire strapped to the dress.

"It's lame, isn't it?" Angie asked when they parted and walked to the dining room to eat.

Derek chuckled. "Not as lame as a pirate." he said, motioning to his costume. He couldn't resist as he looked down at Angie, a grin on his face. "But you know, I already knew I had my very own angel."


	8. the curtain falls

Alternate universe where Caduceus is a theatre company, and Derek Stiles is a novelist.  
Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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25. the curtain falls

The roar of the crowds made all of their hard work worth it as the theatre group, Caduceus, took a bow in front of their audience after another successful showing of Trauma Center, a medical play. Angie released the breath she had been holding the entire time. This was her first performance on the New York Broadway scene since moving to Germany.

As she headed backstage, people began to bombard her with congratulations for a successful performance and flowers. However, there was a certain person she had been looking for in the crowd—and to her dismay, was absent.

Instead of mourning her absentee boyfriend, she decided to roll with it and went out with her other costars for dinner.

The next performance was even better than the last, and her boyfriend still didn't appear behind stage. Later that night when Angie attempted to call him, he hadn't picked up his phone. When she wrote on his wall on Facebook, she had checked the next day and saw nothing.

Finally, on the last performance, after a month of no contact, she stopped looking for his mop of brown hair in the crowds and just acted her heart out. For the last time, she bowed in front of the applauding audience and watched as the curtains fell.

"Congratulations on an amazing showing." someone said behind her.

Angie spun around and saw her boyfriend, genius novelist, Derek Stiles, looking neater than she had ever seen him. His hair was cut neatly mid-forehead, and he was dressed in a smart black suit with a large bouquet of flowers in his hand. He thrust it to her nervously; he hadn't seen her for almost a month and knew he wouldn't be so easily forgiven.

Angie didn't let him down as he received a resounding slap across the face before she entered his warm embrace, reveling in his presence.

"Where were you?" she mumbled into his shirt.

Derek smiled, pushing her away slightly so he could look her in the eye. "I was in Germany."

"Germany," Angie repeated skeptically. Her arms were folded across her chest and her eyebrow was raised.

He could sense her doubt, and he wasn't surprised. He began to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah… I know it sounds crazy, but I had a good reason." Derek swallowed visibly and dug in his coat pocket for a small velvet box; slowly, he knelt down before her. "I needed to ask permission to do this."

Angie's breath hitched when she saw a beautiful diamond ring sitting in a pool of silk.

"Will you marry me?"


	9. collide

Set during Trauma Center: UtK. Please enjoy!  
Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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5. collide

Derek was exhausted. He had always been a restless sleeper so rest was somewhat rare. At least with the extra hours Mary allowed him, he felt a little energetic in the morning. Derek let out a sigh as he thought of the blonde demon that arrived at the emergency room a week ago. Who did she think she was? She ordered him around and scolded him when she was _younger_ than he was!

_"I expect you to be prompt and professional!"_

_"You were supposed to here fifteen minutes ago!_

_"Your patients shouldn't have to wait because you're behind schedule."_

All she did was nag him and treat him like a child. This was tiring. He trudged through the hallway, walking aimlessly to his office when a body collided into him. His arms immediately reacted to steady the person, slightly hugging the unknown colliding object to prevent him or them from falling.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Dr. Stiles! Where have you been? You were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago!" she shouted. However, before she could continue, she began to tug on his arm. "We have an emergency patient coming in! Now, hurry!"

"R-right!"

Derek sighed, so much for an object… Angie was more like a meteor.


	10. splash

Well, I figured out that getting 30 chapters in is impossible by now, haha. However, this will be completed! I shall return!  
Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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27. splash

Baths were a struggle with Derek and Angie's third child. Born a year after Alyson, Kenneth Stiles was very, very different from his namesake in terms of personality. However, he seemed to get all of his looks from his mother's side of the family. Dark brown hair and dark eyes, he looked just like his grandfather. No doubt he would also inherit the strong German features when he was older.

However, at the moment, the two-year-old was fearful of water, and hugged Angie's neck for dear life as the woman knelt down next to the bathtub in hopes of dropping her son in the water. It was mildly painful, Kenny tugging on her hair and nearly strangling her to avoid the bubbles and water.

Their daughter, Aly, was already splashing around in the water, getting Angie's shirt slightly wet. Six-year-old Wyatt Stiles had already declared himself a "big boy", and began to ask to take "big boy showers". When Angie retold the story to Leslie, the other mother of two had nearly died of cuteness. Wyatt was growing up fast, making it much harder for the parent of three to catch up with him.

"He takes after you. Honestly, we might need to skip grades to make him _work_." Derek once said when they were relaxing after putting all three children to sleep.

Angie carefully removed his grasp around her neck, even suffering losing several strands of hair, to set her son in the water. When she did so, the young boy began to throw a tantrum, splashing water everyone and getting his mother soaking wet. Derek, who had just returned from grocery shopping with their first-born, ran to meet the screams of his youngest. Quickly, he lifted Kenny out of the water and had him in his arms, wrapped in a towel.

"Are you okay?" he asked, helping Angie up with his free hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Since I'm already wet, I'll just finish up bathing Aly, and you can try again with Kenny." Angie began to wring out her shirt to her dismay. Sensing his wife's discomfort and tangible feeling of defeat, he gently kissed her forehead.

"I'll take care of both of them. Go ahead and take a shower and get changed." Derek offered. She smiled at him, placing a kiss on his cheek, and disappeared from the room. After Angie was out of sight, he unwrapped the towel around his little boy and carefully placed him in the bathtub without any trouble. Aly began giggling as if sensing that Derek did this to Angie on purpose. "Now, that's not true," he told his daughter, playfully tapping her on the nose. "Although, that's what she gets for creating a mess with your Aunt Leslie in the kitchen and making me clean it up."


	11. run away

Hey everyone. Back from my three week vacation! Anyways, I have lots of other oneshots waiting to be released for your viewing pleasure, but I just had to post this one first-as depressing as it is. I just had to get what's been upsetting me out (failed my road test-twice, after so much practice for stupid mistakes I shouldn't have made and normally don't make), so I put it as the turmoil Derek's going through after almost losing the same patient TWICE by making mistakes during surgery and having someone else save him.  
Man, I'm still upset. Sorry. Long A/N, that you don't have to read. But you probably already did since I'm putting this warning at the very end-sorry!

Trauma Center (c) Atlus

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12. run away

It was one little mistake that he wished he could take back. He slammed on the brakes as he pulled up to the curb of a deserted, small café. The light was still on and through his windshield, he could see a woman attending to the counter. Making the executive decision, he got out of his car and pushed open the door. The woman, who was preoccupied with a book, shot her head back up at him, giving him an embarrassed smile.

"I'm sorry. How may I help you?" she asked.

He peered through his smudged glasses—depression inhibited his ability to clean his lenses—and finally said, "Black coffee."

The woman nodded, her brown hair waving behind her as she turned to make the coffee. He took a seat closest to the counter and sat silently until the woman finally called him back up for his coffee. He handed her a ten. "Keep the change."

"This is twenty dollars, sir. The coffee only costs $3.10." she stated as if he was unaware. He shook his head and sat back down. "Are you alright?"

He looked up at her. "Why do you ask that?" He took a sip of his coffee; it burned down his throat, a painful reminder he was still alive.

"No one hands a person fifteen dollars in this economy," she said plainly. It took a little bit of effort to prevent himself from chuckling; this woman was a lot like the person waiting for him—knowing her, she wouldn't just wait quietly and was probably out looking for him. "So are you? I have time. My shift ends in an hour."

"I practiced it over and over, and yet when it came down to it, I messed up. I'm so stupid." he choked out.

The woman looked at him and then at the only car in front of the building, a gorgeous white Volvo. The man was probably a broken-up surgeon that failed a surgery and was looking for somewhere to hideout. "Did your patient… die?" she finally asked.

The man's bespectacled eyes looked up at her. His lips were tight as he shook his head. "No. He didn't. Dr. Hoffman stepped in and saved him, but he's still in critical condition. Everyone thought I could do it. I made one big mistake in the very beginning that ended up costing me the entire surgery, even if I did everything else right."

"He's okay though! You can always—" However, she was interrupted when a blonde woman, maybe a few years younger than she, pushed open the door with manic distress.

The man stood up. "Angie."

"You can do it again, Derek. No matter how many times, we can save him. We know you can do it." the blonde told him, taking the words right out of the barista's mouth. Sensing her cue to leave, the barista, a twenty-five-year-old graduate student named, Abby, retreated to the storage room.

Derek shook his head and collapsed onto his seat, staring into the black depths of his coffee. "I can do it! And you know!" he suddenly shouted, turning his eyes to her, distress swimming in chocolate brown.

Angie was confused.

"I can do it. Anywhere but when I need to do it most. And you know I can do it too, which makes it worse every time I fail. Twice. I've done the surgery twice, made two different mistakes that ended up almost costing me that man's life, and I've let everybody down. They see me practice the surgery and do it flawlessly. You've seen me do it every time."

"That's why I know you can—!"

"But I can't! Don't you see? I'm unable to. It's my nerves and my brain just gets meddled up. I don't know what to do." Derek slumped his head, recalling the absolute defeat as he exited the O.R., hands shaking, throat tight.

Suddenly, in Derek's sulking, his arm was jerked up, pulling his entire body with him. Angie was hugging him loosely, close enough to be held, but far enough to look into his eyes. "Don't stop." Piercing emerald eyes bore into him. "Keep walking and trying, because standing there does nothing. We're right behind you, Derek, and we'll fix the patient together."

There was silence that weighed down on the atmosphere like a ton of rocks.

"Fine." he finally spoke. "I'll do it again."

Angie smiled brightly at him, hoping to give him the courage he needed. "Third time's the charm."

_It's not failing that's my problem. I know there are many times for me to fail and that I'm not perfect.  
It's when I disappoint you and everyone else that believed I could succeed which makes me upset and lose confidence.

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It's hard to let someone down and it just flat out sucks to fail when you can do something perfectly-but mess up when it matters most. End rant. Please review!_  
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